Beginning in the Fall of 2021, NPYA instituted an Artistic Advisory Board (AAB). The AAB includes the four members of the NPYA production team (Artistic Director, Producer, Series Dramaturg, Series Stage Manager) as well as four others either working in the TYA field or interested in TYA. In addition to promoting NPYA and the TYA field, the AAB members review the script submissions received for each year’s series, providing guidance for the Artistic Director and Producer to determine which three scripts will be selected for that year’s series.
Interested in becoming a member of the AAB? Send our producer, Teresa Fisher, an email (taf263@nyu.edu).
NPYA’s AAB Members:
Cristina Angelica
Cristina Angelica (she/her/hers) is a New York City based actress, singer, model, artist, and collaborator represented by Take 3 Talent. She is absolutely thrilled to be joining the NPYA team as an artistic advisory board member. A proud Miami native and alumni of the Full Time Conservatory at Atlantic Acting School. She is a first-generation Cuban/Puerto Rican American and fluent in both English and Spanish. Cristina is passionate about telling stories that are thought provoking, thoroughly empowering and socially conscious. She believes that through creativity and storytelling we can evolve consciousness, inspire connection and realize our true interconnectedness. Her happy place is the beach. https://www.cristinaangelicaofficial.com/
Tammie L. Swopes
Tammie L. Swopes has been in the business of theatre and education for over 20 years, starting her career in theatre as an intern at the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, GA. Tammie immersed herself in the art and business of theatre, which further inspired her work with youth, social justice, and community building. Her work with organizations such as Performing Arts Program for Youth (PAPY), The Names Project Foundation, and The Partnership for Arts in Learning inspired her move to New York City and her studies at NYU Steinhardt, where she earned an MA in Educational Theatre working/studying with some of the masters in the field, including Dorothy Heathcote, and Augusto Boal. She has since worked as a teaching artist, arts in education specialist, theatre program director, and a full-time performing arts instructor. Tammie is currently an adjunct professor at Marymount Manhattan College and Artistic Associate for the Verbatim Performance Lab, while pursuing her doctorate in Educational Theatre (NYU Steinhardt) and continuing her own work as an artist/educator and social justice warrior.
Asha John
Asha John is a Brooklyn-based actress, dancer, and model. Asha has always had an
innate love for the performing arts; in 2009 her passion was solidified when she was
cast in her first off-Broadway production of When the Clouds Cover the Sun, at The
Producer’s Club. Since then, she has been cast in numerous productions for stage
and film, including classics like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Antony and
Cleopatra. In 2020, Asha graduated with her master’s in Educational Theatre for
Colleges and Communities from New York University and wants to pursue her
doctorate in Theater Studies in the future.
Outside of her work as an actress, Asha has worked as a teaching artist, bringing her
love of step, theater, dance, and math to the students in New York City. She has also
worked with numerous community-based organizations, using the arts to advocate
for all underserved communities.
Jim DeVivo
Dr. Jim DeVivo teaches theatre in grades 7-12 for Holmdel Township Public Schools and is an adjunct instructor for the Program in Educational Theatre at NYU. He has also taught at Manhattanville College, Monmouth University, and Middlesex County College, and led playwriting and arts integration workshops for teachers. Jim’s background in curriculum and assessment includes service on the advisory boards for performing arts academies at the vocational schools for both Middlesex and Union Counties. He also consulted on the creation of theatre exit exams for the NJ Department of Education.
Prior to entering the classroom, Jim was Director of Education for Writers Theatre of New Jersey where he taught playwriting, devising new work with youth, and produced the annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival. He was recognized for this work by the NJ Governor’s Awards for Arts Education (2009) and the NJ Theatre Alliance (2018). In 2017, he developed the inaugural playwriting program for New Jersey Thespians, the state chapter of the International Thespian Society / Educational Theatre Association. His research on the history and critique of theatre for young audiences and new play development for youth has been published in Youth Theatre Journal and ArtsPraxis. Additionally, Jim created the Young Playwrights Guide as a resource for student writers and their mentors.
Gina L. Grandi (Dramaturg)
Dr. Gina L. Grandi teaches at Appalachian State University in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Prior to that, she taught theatre education and pre-certification courses at NYU as well as worked as a professional development consultant with public schools in the city. She continues to facilitate professional development work with K-12 teachers, specifically around arts integration, culturally responsive pedagogy, and anti-racist curriculum and classroom practices. She serves as an editorial board member for the journal Voices in Urban Education.
In her pre-university life, she was a full-time public school teacher in San Francisco for thirteen years, teaching both 5th Grade and High School Theatre and Humanities. For ten years in New York, she worked as a teaching artist, teacher mentor, and non-profit program director, working to bring theatre programs to underserved high schools.
She is the co-founder and artistic director of The Bechdel Group, a theatre company dedicated to fostering writers writing for women. She is the editor of a series of anthologies of ten-minute plays produced through the company. Gina also serves as an artistic associate and dramaturg for NYU’s New Plays for Young Audiences series. In addition, Gina is a mask and puppet designer and her short fiction has been featured in Cicada, Apex Magazine, Gold Fever Press, and 100wordstory.org.
David Montgomery (Artistic Director)
Dr. David Montgomery is the director of The Program in Educational Theatre in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University. He is also the artistic director of the New Play for Young Audiences (NPYA) series at the Provincetown Playhouse. Dr. Montgomery has directed NYU study abroad programs in London, Dublin, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, and he directed the Looking for Shakespeare (LFS) Program, where High school students collaborated with him and graduate students from NYU to shape an original production of Shakespeare. Other directorial credits include: Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory (2019); Walking Toward America by Sandra Fenichel Asher (2018, Missouri Solo Play Festival, Springfield, MO; 2015, The United Solo Theatre Festival, NYC; 2012, Theatre of the Seventh Sister, Lancaster, PA; 2012, NPYA); The Miracle Worker by William Gibson (2016); Little Shop of Horrors, book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken, based on the film by Roger Corman, screenplay by Charles Griffith (2014, Program in Educational Theatre); Salvation Road by D.W. Gregory (2012, Program in Educational Theatre); Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (2012, LFS) and The Winter’s Tale (2011, LFS); The Giver by Eric Coble from the story by Lois Lowry (2009. Program in Educational Theatre); Nasty by Ramon Esquivel (2009, NPYA); Kindertransport by Diane Samuels (2008, Program in Educational Theatre), Stories from the Magic Lake (2006, Program in Educational Theatre) and Folktale Journey: Old Stories Told in New Ways(2004, Program in Educational Theatre). David currently sits on the Arts Education Committee for the NYC Department of Education, and in 2012 he published a book co-written with Dr. Robert Landy, former director of the Drama Therapy Program at NYU, entitled Theatre for Change: Education, Social Action, Therapy (Palgrave Macmillan). He wrote a chapter for The Handbook of Artistic Citizenship entitled ‘Applied Theatre and Citizenship in the Puerto Rican Community: Artistic Citizenship in Practice,” published by Oxford University Press (2016), and has written journal articles and collaborated on two chapters in Teaching US History: Dialogues Among Social Studies Teachers and Historians, published by Routledge (2009).
Alyssa Williams (Series Stage Manager)
Alyssa Williams has been the series stage manager for NPYA since 2022. She received her master’s degree in dual theatre and social studies teaching from the Program in Educational Theatre. In addition to stage managing, she teaches stage management and other classes in technical theatre at LIU Post and is a teaching artist with the Roundabout Theatre Company.
Teresa A. Fisher (Producer)
Dr. Teresa A. Fisher is a professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Bronx Community College (CUNY). Teresa’s research interests include post-show discussions, TYA new play development, bodies and weight, interpersonal communication, and theatre for health. She is the author of Post-Show Discussions in New Play Development (2014, Palgrave) and co-editor of Applied Arts and Health: Building Bridges across Arts, Therapy, Health, Education, and Community (Intellect, 2022). She is the Assistant Editor for the Journal of Applied Arts and Health (Intellect). She has been the producer of New Plays for Young Audiences since 2009.
